1.
Akron Pros
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The Akron Pros were a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908 to 1926. Fritz Pollard, the first black coach in the NFL. Paul Robeson played for the team in 1921 as well and he was among the earliest stars of professional football, before football became segregated from 1934 to 1946. In 1926, the name was changed back to the Akron Indians, due to financial problems, the team suspended operations in 1927 and surrendered its franchise the following year. Prior to 1908, several semi-pro and amateur teams dominated the Akron football scene, the most dominant of these was a team known as the Akron East Ends. The East Ends dominance of Ohio football went unmatched until the Massillon Tigers paid several ringers from the recently disbanded Pittsburgh Stars to defeat the East Ends in 1903, the Akron Indians date as far back as 1908. The early Indians teams went on to win Ohio League championships in 1908,1909,1913 and 1914, the team was always referred to as the Indians by the fans. From 1908–1913, the Indians had a reputation of playing more of a style of football seen at the level than that of the early athletic clubs. For example, the Indians preferred passing the ball as opposed to running. The team tied for the Akron city title in 190 Before the 1912 season, Peggy Parratt, a football star with the Massillon Tigers, Franklin Athletic Club. He made the move realizing that he could make more money in the large football market that Akron provided. When he arrived in Akron, his first move was to change the name from the Akron Indians to Parratts Indians. With Peggy as player, coach, and owner-manager, the Indians split their series with Shelby and twice defeated Canton, however they were defeated by the unheard of Elyria Athletics, who then took the Ohio championship. The Athletics were mostly former Blues players who formed a team in Elyria after Parratt left for Akron, the following season, Parratt brought most of Elyrias 1912 championship team to Akron, and adding them to his roster. The Indians then beat Shelby and Elyria and they also managed to tie the rapidly improving Canton Pros. However, the game was cancelled due to snowstorm, a week later when the Blues returned to Akron, the Indians were prepared with newly recruited talent that was viewed as even superior to that of Shelbys. The Indians won the game 20–0 and brought the Ohio title back to Akron, for his 1914 recruiting efforts, Parratt signed the usual big-name players, which consisted of a lineup that changed from week to week, with just enough stars on hand to guarantee a win. By late season, the left side of his Akron Indian line was from Notre Dame

2.
Columbus Panhandles
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The Columbus Panhandles were a professional American football team based in Columbus, Ohio. The club was founded in 1901 by workers at the Panhandle shops of the Pennsylvania Railroads and they were a part of the Ohio League from 1904 before folding after one season. The Panhandles are credited with playing in the first NFL game against another NFL opponent and they have zero NFL championships, but Joseph Carr, the teams owner from 1907 to 1922, is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his work as NFL president. The earliest existence of the Panhandles was in 1900, the Columbus Press-Post reported Jack Walsh creating the Panhandle railroad team consisting of big hardy railroad men, no other articles in 1900 were written about the Panhandles. A game was scheduled for October 19 of next year, however, in 1901, managed by William Butler of the Ohio Medical University, the Panhandles played two games against the Columbus Barracks, a team consisting of local soldiers. The results were split, the first was a 2–6 loss while the second was a 12–6 win, Butler left the Panhandles for unknown reasons, and the new manager for the 1902 season was Harry Greenwood. Greenwood placed advertisements in every newspaper he could in order to schedule games against local opponents and his ad read The Panhandle Athletic Club has organized a football team and would like to play any college, high school or manufacturing team on Saturday or Sunday. As a result, the Panhandles scheduled four games in 1902, again, the Panhandles got a new manager for the 1903 season, E. E. Griest. Griest needed help with the team, so he hired Ben Chamberlain to coach the team, after an exhibition game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Panhandles won their first game of the season, a 38–0 victory over Neil Avenue Athletic Club. This victory gave the team some unexpected press, the Columbus Citizen wrote the first article praising the team, the Panhandles 1903 season ended with a 5–3 record. In 1904, Joseph Carr, who was a writer for the Ohio State Journal and manager of the railroads baseball team the Famous Panhandle White Sox. However the Panhandles didn’t take off and the team played just two games, Carr tried again three years later in 1907. One of the first things Carr did when he became the owner of the Panhandles was to one the railroads policies. Since most of the players were employed by the railroad. Because of this perk, Carr was able to schedule mostly road games, eliminating the expenses of stadium rental, game promotion, and security for the field. However, while the team did play the majority of their games on the road as a traveling team, the Panhandles adopted an amateur sandlot mentality for their playing style. Since the team was composed mainly of workers, the scenario gave the players limited time to practice. The Panhandles did the majority of their preparation during their lunch breaks, workers had a one-hour break during a normal workday, and the players on the team usually took the first 15 minutes to eat lunch and used the remaining 45 minutes to practice football

3.
National Football League
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The National Football League is a professional American football league consisting of 32 teams, divided equally between the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The NFL is one of the four professional sports leagues in North America. The NFLs 17-week regular season runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, with each team playing 16 games, the NFL was formed in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association before renaming itself the National Football League for the 1922 season. The NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League in 1966, and the first Super Bowl was held at the end of that season, the merger was completed in 1970. Today, the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is the most popular sports league in the United States. S. The NFLs executive officer is the commissioner, who has authority in governing the league. The team with the most NFL championships is the Green Bay Packers with thirteen, the current NFL champions are the New England Patriots, who defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in Super Bowl LI. Another meeting held on September 17,1920 resulted in the renaming of the league to the American Professional Football Association, the league hired Jim Thorpe as its first president, and consisted of 14 teams. Only two of these teams, the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Cardinals, remain, the first event occurred on September 26,1920 when the Rock Island Independents defeated the non-league St. Paul Ideals 48–0 at Douglas Park. On October 3,1920, the first full week of league play occurred, the following season resulted in the Chicago Staleys controversially winning the title over the Buffalo All-Americans. In 1922, the APFA changed its name to the National Football League, in 1932, the season ended with the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans tied for first in the league standings. This method had used since the leagues creation in 1920. The league quickly determined that a game between Chicago and Portsmouth was needed to decide the leagues champion. Playing with altered rules to accommodate the playing field, the Bears won the game 9–0. Fan interest in the de facto championship game led the NFL, beginning in 1933, the 1934 season also marked the first of 12 seasons in which African Americans were absent from the league. The de facto ban was rescinded in 1946, following public pressure, the NFL was always the foremost professional football league in the United States, it nevertheless faced a large number of rival professional leagues through the 1930s and 1940s. Rival leagues included at least three separate American Football Leagues and the All-America Football Conference, on top of regional leagues of varying caliber. Three NFL teams trace their histories to these leagues, including the Los Angeles Rams

4.
Frankford Yellow Jackets
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The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926. The team played its games from 1923 in Frankford Stadium in Frankford. The Frankford Athletic Association was organized in May 1899 in the parlor of the Suburban Club, the cost of purchasing a share in the association was $10. However, there were also contributing memberships, ranging from $1 to $2.50, the Association was a community-based non-profit organization of local residents and businesses. In keeping with its charter, which stated that all profits shall be donated to charity, the beneficiaries of this generosity included Frankford Hospital, the Frankford Day Nursery, the local Boy Scouts, and the local American Legion Post 211. The officers of the Association never received a salary or compensation for their work on behalf of the team, the associations clubhouse was originally located at the current site of Frankford High School. The field at this site, known as Wistar Field, became the first official home of the Yellow Jackets, several years later, when the construction of the current high school was proposed, the team moved to Browns Field. The Association initially fielded a team, however soccer and football clubs were also formed. The original Frankford Athletic Association apparently disbanded prior to the 1909 football season, several of the original players from the 1899 football team kept the team together, and they became known as Loyola Athletic Club. In keeping with Yellow Jackets tradition, they carried the Frankford name again in 1912, in the early 1920s, the Frankford Athletic Associations Yellow Jackets gained the reputation as being one of the best independent football teams in the nation. In 1922, Frankford absorbed the Philadelphia City Champion team, the Union Quakers of Philadelphia and that year Frankford captured the unofficial championship of Philadelphia. During the 1922 and 1923 seasons the Yellow Jackets compiled a 6–2–1 record against teams from the National Football League and this led to the Association being granted an NFL franchise in 1924. The Yellow Jackets assembled in September 1924 under coach Punk Berryman to begin preparing for the upcoming season, the team included players Harry Dayhoff, Russ Stein, Joe Spagna, Whitey Thomas, Al Bedner, and Bob Jamison. The team often played 15 to 20 games a season, frequently, they would schedule two games on the same weekend, typically one at home on Saturday and, because of Pennsylvanias blue laws, an away game on Sunday. In their very first game as a member of the NFL, Frankford finished the season with an overall record of 17–3–1, with an 11–2–1 record in league play. They finished third in league standings only behind the Cleveland Bulldogs and Chicago Bears, under modern standings tabulation procedures, after a 9–0–1 start, Frankford lost several key players, including Chamberlin, to injuries. After a 49–0 defeat to the Pottsville Maroons, Frankfords captain Bull Behman was suspended indefinitely from the team for indifferent play and he was accused of not giving his best during the past few weeks because of some dissension with other players. The move helped improve the team, which posted a 13–7 record in league play, the Yellow Jackets had a part in the 1925 NFL Championship controversy

5.
Leo Lyons (American football)
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Leo V. Lyons was a co-founder of the National Football League. He was a player, manager, coach and owner of the Rochester Jeffersons from 1908 to 1925, Lyons started out as a 16-year-old player, in 1908, for the Rochester Jeffersons semi-pro football team. By 1910, he was manager as well as a player of the team, as a manager, Leo recruited one of pro footballs first African-American players, Henry McDonald. Years later, Leo became owner of the team, by the time the Jeffersons were an NFL team, Leo served the team as a manager, owner, photographer, doctor, counselor, financier, field worker, game booker, agent, and scout. He also was the manager of a team, comprising his football players. Lyons developed big ambitions for the team and he took the Jeffersons to Canton, Ohio, early in the 1917 season to play the Canton Bulldogs, led by Jim Thorpe. Canton won the game easily, 41-0, however this led Lyons to study and adopt the Bulldogs way of recruiting and playing. In 1919, he brought in some players and the Jeffersons won the city semi-pro championship with ease. The Jeffersons were charter members of the organization and played in the league from 1920-25, on December 5,1921, a game was scheduled between the Jeffersons and the Washington Senators. Lyons refused to play the game and it has been said by some that Lyons forfeited the game because of snowy conditions. However, according to Lyons, the Senators had a poor fan turnout due to a snowstorm and that amount would not allow for the team to be paid to play the game, or travel expenses for the trip back to Rochester. The game had an NFL guarantee that the Jeffersons must be paid $800 for the game regardless of anything, Lyons refused to play the game because of Washington not paying the $800 that was in the game contract. Later, NFL commissioner Joseph Carr ruled in favor of Lyons, the Elias Sports Bureau has not recognized this game as a forfeit and official NFL standings also say it was not a forfeit. Rochester played, and lost, only one game during the 1920 season. However, in order for Lyons to have a team that would draw crowds, he needed to spend money. In six seasons, the Jeffersons won just two games against NFL opponents, Lyons finally folded the team after the 1925 season. Aside from being a co-founder of the NFL, Lyons served as an Honorary Historian of the NFL, the Rochester Jeffersons Official Website PFRA Rochester Jeffersons

6.
Buffalo (NFL)
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Buffalo, New York had a turbulent, early-era National Football League team that operated under multiple names and several different owners between the 1910s and 1920s. The franchise, which was experiencing problems in 1928, did not participate in league play that season. Buffalo operated a professional football circuit from at least the late 1800s onward. Among notable predecessors to the team discussed here were the Buffalo Oakdales, whose heyday was in the years 1908 and 1909 and these teams played each other and teams from nearby cities. The All-Stars played from 1915 to 1917 under the leadership of Eugene F. Dooley, in 1917, Dooley, along with Barney Lepper, took the team on a barnstorming tour of midwestern pro football teams. In 1918, the teams were not allowed to play outside the area because of the 1918 flu pandemic, Dooley. Shoe salesman Warren D. Patterson, at the time as this, formed a new team known as the Buffalo Niagaras. As the Niagaras, the team won a championship in 1918, going undefeated with a 6–0–0 record. The two teams tied the Thanksgiving Day game, but Buffalo handily defeated Rochester 20–0 the following Sunday, Patterson held on to the Prospects name and put together a lower quality team that played through 1923, including a 1922 game against the All-Americans themselves. Like the 1990s-era Buffalo Bills seven decades later, the 1918–21 All-Americans team is considered one of the best professional teams to have never won an NFL championship. Even though they didnt officially win any championships, there are two championships that are disputable, in 1920 and 1921, unique for a professional football team, the All-Americans had a sharing agreement with the Union Club of Phoenixville, a side project managed by All-Americans player Heinie Miller. Miller would take himself and seven other All-Americans to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania to play games on Saturdays, five All-Americans left the team to play for the Quakers full-time, Buffalo had the pickings of the then-defunct Detroit Tigers to replenish their roster. In 1920, the Akron Pros held the Buffalo All-Americans to a tie in front of only 3,000 fans. At the game, Akron owners, Frank Nied and Art Ranney agreed to sell Bob Nash to Buffalo for $300 and five per cent of the gate, along with the Decatur Staleys and Akron Pros, Buffalo claimed a share of the 1920 league title. That same season the Pros held the best record in the league, meanwhile, Buffalo and the Staleys had to win in order to capture the AFPA Championship. The Pros were able to hold the Staleys to a tie at Cub Park. However the Pros still had to play the All-Americans who were fresh from a 7–3 win over the Canton Bulldogs at New York Citys Polo Grounds, despite Buffalos confidence going into the match, the Pros also held the All-Americans to scoreless tie. Both the All-Americans and the Staleys complained about the championship, arguing that Akron had only tied, however, Joseph Carr moved at the leagues meeting in April 1921 to give Akron the sole title and the rights to the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup

7.
1924 Chicago Bears season
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The 1924 Chicago Bears season was their fifth regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 6–1–4 league record under head coach George Halas earning them a finish in the team standings. The Bears started slow with 2 ties and a loss, but quickly gained their stride, the Bears only loss of the year was to the Cleveland Bulldogs, the eventual champions. Despite coming in second, the Bears did defeat the cross-town rival Cardinals twice, the Sternaman brothers again carried the team, with Joe Sternaman having his best season. The younger Sternaman scored 6 touchdowns, threw for another, had 9 field goals, and 12 PATs, finishing with 75 of the Bears 136 points